St John’s School Communication and Information Policy We value our relationships with our school community. We aim to share and celebrate our achievements with you. Communication between home and school is essential. This Policy is for all members of our community so that we can ensure that important and relevant information is shared in an appropriate and timely manner. There are many ways that we endeavour to share information with you. The information below shows a range of ways that teachers and school can keep in touch with parents and the wider community so that everyone is involved and informed. Learning and Achievement PTA/AGM followed by Nursery – Year 6 Meet the teacher/Curriculum Evening – Early in the Autumn Term Parent consultations – two opportunities each year (once during the Autumn Term; once during the Spring Term and a further optional session in the Summer Term) Written School Report – Spring Term and Summer Term Pop in Days – one planned every term Active Learning Sessions – one planned by each class during the Spring Term Class Assemblies – one planned by each class during the academic year – celebrating learning Organisation and Relationships Parent Mail Curriculum Letters at the beginning of each term School information letters / Newsletters Playground notice board of local events and clubs VLE / School Website Email Telephone Parish magazine School Celebrations/ Exhibitions Parish Links School Office Questionnaires Parent Forums 1 Organisation and Relationships Parent Mail Email and Text Message Service (September 2014). The aim of this service is to inform parents of school events and/or change of circumstances such as football club cancelled due to poor weather or school closures. Class teachers may also email/ a class letter regarding specific class events. We may also use this service to advise parents of school events. This service does not include sending messages on behalf of third parties. Our text message service cannot be used to reply to and staff personal numbers should not be used. School Newsletters. We aim to send our newsletters once/twice a term. They contain information that affects the whole school. The newsletter also contains information about fundraising events and activities. Parents who have registered with Parent Mail will receive this electronically. A paper copy is sent home via the youngest child of a family group who are not using Parent Mail. Mrs De La Haye sends a letter home at the beginning and end of each term and whenever the need arises. Letters .On occasion, we send out letters to parents regarding specific events such as sports fixtures, school visits and important school information that cannot wait until the next newsletter day! Parents are requested to check their children’s book bags on a regular basis and return any slips directly to the office. We will also endeavour to use Parent Mail for this. VLE/Website - www.stjohn.sch.je this is the address for our school website. Copies of our school policies can be found here. The site also contains a school calendar which shows key dates for activities and clubs. Some information can only be accessed once you have logged on. Teachers and children have log on names and these can be obtained from the VLE coordinator, Mr Matthews. Email. The admin email for the school is admin@stjohn.sch.je. Mrs McInerney, our school secretary, receives emails throughout the day. Telephone. Most phone calls are answered by Mrs McInerney. The school does not have an answer phone service. Please ensure that you phone the school office before 9.00am if your child is unwell. School Celebration. All members of our school community are invited to key events throughout the year. Advanced notice of events will be communicated through our Parent Mail or newsletters. Parish Links. The school sees itself as being an important part of the St John’s Community. We actively seek out opportunities for the children to be involved in Parish events and encourage others to become involved in school life too. Invitations are sent out to the wider community when we celebrate whole school events. We write articles in the Parish Magazine three times a year. We join the Parish Church once a year for Education Sunday. This is held in the Spring Term. School Office. Mrs McInerney is our school secretary and her office is based at the front of the school. All visitors must use the signing in and out book and this is applicable to children who leave and return to school during the day. Questionnaires. From time to time we will ask teachers, parents, children etc for feedback regarding certain issues. Questionnaires provide us with an effective way of doing this. Please take time to complete them as your views matter and we do share outcomes with you. PTA AGM/ Curriculum Evening. In September of each year, following the PTA AGM, the teachers provide an opportunity to meet with their new class’ parents. The aim of this meeting is to share organisation and expectations for learning for the forthcoming year. During this meeting class teachers will also advise parents of the best ways and times to communicate with them during the 2 year. This is an opportunity for the Head Teacher to provide information about the direction of the school for the coming year. New Parents for Reception. In the June before a child is due to join our Reception class we invite all parents to a meeting to meet the staff and gain an insight in to life at St John’s. During this meeting the teachers can advise parents about specific arrangements that are linked to starting school in September. Parent Consultations. These take place in October and March. These are individual appointments for parents and teachers to meet to discuss the progress and next steps for learning. One appointment is offered per child. If parents are unable to attend the meeting it may not be possible to re-schedule. Written reports are given to parents in March and June. Meetings with parents and teachers outside of parent consultations. Sometimes parents may wish to meet with class teachers and vice versa. Parents are requested to arrange such times as teaching staff may have meetings and preparation time before and after school and a mutually convenient time will be sought. There may be some occasions when teachers would like to meet with parents. Teachers will make direct contact with those parents concerned to arrange an appointment. Parents can contact the school via phone or our admin email admin@stjohn.sch.je if they would like a teacher to contact them to arrange a meeting time. Meetings with Mrs De La Haye and Mrs Doyle. All first point of contact regarding children should be via their class teachers. There may be some occasions when parents wish to speak with either Mrs De La Haye or Mrs Doyle. Parents are advised to make an appointment via the school office to do this as they have teaching and additional commitments so they are not always instantly available. Author: Leadership Team Created: November 2014 To be reviewed: December 2015 3